Name
by Arwen Strife
Summary: She thought he was incredibly handsome when she saw him. Then he turned and she saw the scar and the pain in his eyes.My name is Sakura/ What's yours? Your Name, that is.


"Hey! Sakura!"

She turned around and saw her teacher Kakashi standing there, waving at her.

"What are you doing here Sakura? School's been over for hours. This is not your way home I happen to know…"

His voice trailed off, as he noticed WHERE exactly they were. They were in the park near an old willow tree. Looking down at the tree trunk, he saw a pair of raccoons, playing happily under the tree roots.

"I'm…fine. Just decided to take a walk-"

"YEAH! RIGHT! "

Behind them, a loud voice sounded out.

"She's been thinking of _him_ again, weren't you Sakura?"

She blushed and turned away, nodding a bit. But Kakashi noticed tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Let's go, Naruto…Sakura, go home soon, okay?"

Then he dragged off the loudmouth boy who was protesting each step of the way.

Sakura sighed. She wasn't really thinking of him, just sitting here on the old bench. Her feet had led her here without her noticing it. She remembered again, Gaara…

The first time she saw his face, she thought he was incredibly handsome. Pale skin, delicate and yet strong jaw. A contradiction that fit somehow. Then he turned and the lights illuminated his face, and she saw the tattoo _or was it a scar_ on his forehead and his dark-rimmed eyes. She saw the pain reflected in them, deep and shattering and most of all alone and she knew…he needed a friend.

"_Hello, my name is Sakura. Would you like to sit with me?"_

The words she spoke as she held out her hand to him. He looked down at her hand like he had never been offered a hand, one that hadn't hurt him later or was lifted to slap him. He didn't trust it. He didn't take it, but she still smiled, took initiative and grabbed his instead.

"_So what's yours? Your name, that is?"_

He pulled his hand away quickly and narrowed his eyes at her.

That day on, they were the best of friends. Though they never showed it. He denied all the way, even though his heart whispered that it was good for him,_ She_ was good for him. His head, compiled with painful memories refused to let him show any sign of attachment willingly. However, she got to him.

They didn't talk much; instead they sat together in companionable silence. Words not spoken were already understood. Sakura learnt to identify when he was happy or in a bad mood, even though he wore the same indifferent expression every day.

She offered him lunch at school when she saw he didn't have anything to eat. Usually he just took it without words (just out of convenience, he always told himself, but knowing better, betrayed by his glowing heart.), but Sakura would still smile, she saw the thanks in his eyes. They always sat beneath the same tall old willow tree, on the cold stone bench, watching as a family of raccoons played together.

He surprised her one day by offering her a ride home on his motorbike. From then on, he was her accompaniment home. She learnt the joy of feeling the wind in her hair and on her face and found out he did as well. He felt like the wind when he rode he said. Her favourite part was still the warmth that she got from clutching him from behind and resting her head against his back.

Sakura always thought she could see a slight flicker in her quiet friend's eyes, a small flicker of fun or amusement watching the little raccoons play and fight. Sitting below 'their' tree one day, they watched. She had remembered that she had asked him how he had gotten the scar mark on his forehead.

He was quiet. Then he spoke. Words soft but as Sakura listened, they deafened her.

He told her about his parents, who got separated leaving him with his mother. His sweet mother who had turned into a monster that married soon after and always told him to call her new husband "dad". But he never could. She would make him do chores around the house and would always tell him he was useless, without any purpose in life. Not worth anything. One day, when he was just five, she branded him with an iron on his head because he had dropped her best plates. His screams were loud, and the police took him away to an orphanage as soon as they saw what she had done to him. He never heard from her again.

After he had finished his story, He had looked up to see Sakura's glistening with tears.

"_Why are you crying?"_

Instead of an answer he got himself thrown backwards, as Sakura gave him the tightest hug in the world. He expected pity and yet he was surprised, that when he looked into her eyes again, he didn't see pity. Just sadness. She was crying for his sake. He had _**Never, Never**_ had someone do so for him.

He wrapped his free arm around her as she sobbed. Inhaled her shampoo scent and closed his rimmed eyes.

"_Thank you…Sakura. Thank you for caring."_

He had smiled that day. His face lighting up very slightly, but glowing with gratitude. She thought she'd never see a sight as amazing and warm as his smile.

"_I am not crazy. I 'm going for it."_

"_B…but…you can't!"_

_Tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched him, not hearing her as he got onto his motorcycle. She thought he had been kidding when he told her about the race. He told her he would enter for her, so she could use the money to help her little sister. Maybe she shouldn't have told him that her sister was ill in the hospital. That her family couldn't afford the costs; maybe…maybe, it was her fault._

"_No…no…NO!"_

_Her head was pounding…hoping her eyes were fooling her…He was lying underneath his bike…the remains of his bike that is…Blood pouring out on the road…His head was tilted, and from there you could see the scar he would have forever upon his face…His eyes were still alive and the lit up when they saw her…_

"_Sa… Sakura…I won…for you…Thanks…for sharing your kindness with me-"_

_More blood spurted out of his mouth…and Sakura was forced back by the paramedics who had come to see the damage. Though one look on her face said it all. He was gone._

Sakura's pink hair blew forward…as the wind blew a leaflet into her face. She brushed it off, with a shock, suddenly being jerked back to the present. The minute she removed the paper from her face, she saw a new raccoon was there that day. It climbed on the tree like it had never climbed before, it was missing an ear, and the rest of the raccoons were ignoring it. Sakura smiled sadly. She remembered how it was herself who once said that she would love to return as a raccoon in her second life.

Sakura quickly brushed away the though as she saw the sky had darkened, and the streetlights were now on. As she walked out the park's gates, she saw…a motorcycle, just like his. it was not broken at all, and it even looked like it had belonged to him. She could see the corner of the mirror, which had broken when she had accidentally hit it against someone's car. He had been so mad, he didn't speak to her for a week, not that it made much difference to her. Sakura giggled, and caught herself again.

She saw someone, walking towards the bike. He turned to face her, and she gasped. It was he. His eyes told her not to move, and then he took out something from under the seat. A small package. He tossed in to her and she caught it.

"_For you. Be happy…Sakura."_

His words were caught in the wind and he smiled before he was gone just like that. So was the bike. The cherry blossom thought she'd never see him smile in her life ever again. She was wrong. He just smiles at her from his afterlife. Grinning or perhaps, grimacing at the irony, Sakura looked down at her hand. The package that contained the money he had won. On the envelope containing the package, he had drawn a small little raccoon and a cherry blossom flower. Sure, it was childish and she could barely recognize it as a drawing, but she smiled nevertheless.

The words, small and almost undetectable but in his handwriting were on the bottom edges of the envelope.

_My name is Gaara. I love you._


End file.
